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"I THINK I'M GOING TO GO TO BED EARLY," Erin said, standing up away from the table.
"Okay, sweetie. Sleep well!" Erin's mom replied.
Erin could barely make it to her stateroom and before she immediately pulled out her phone to read the texts from her ex-boyfriend, Jairus.
5 new notifications...
Jairus James Hey baby, i'm so sorry for what i said the other week.
Jairus James Plz txt me back when you get this we need to talk.
Jairus James Will u please stop being selfish for 10 seconds and txt me?
Jairus James Babe, please this the last time i'll text. please babe, i love you.
Jairus James God, you're worthless. you are impossible to love.
Erin breathed shakily as she read the messages from Jairus over and over again.
Selfish, Worthless, Impossible. Those words echoed in her mind as she set her phone down on the bedside table. She sat in silence for the next few minutes, contemplating.
She decided not to respond. Why would she? They weren't dating anymore. She didn't owe him an explanation. She was tired of handing out second chances, especially to a guy who was undeserving of them.
Trying to distract herself, Erin decided to watch another movie. This time Ratatouille. It seemed fitting considering the fact she was in Paris.
About halfway through the movie, Rudy walked into the room.
"Hey, Erin, whatcha doing?" Rudy asked, lying down next to Erin.
"Not much just watching Ratatouille," Erin said, looking up at Rudy.
Rudy noticed that something seemed off with Erin, "You left dinner extra early? You feeling okay?"
"Erin, I've known you my whole life. You can tell me if something's wrong." Rudy said in a reassuring tone.
"Rudy," Erin paused seriously, "Jairus texted me." Erin grabbed her phone and showed the texts to Rudy.
Rudy quickly read the texts and simply asked, "Well, are you going to text him back?"
"I don't think so. Not this time. I'm so tired of this constant back and forth and back and forth. It's driving me crazy. And You wanna know the worst part of this?" Erin said, exacerbated as she paced around the room.
"What?" Rudy responded.
"For a split second, I wanted to text him. I really really did. I wanted to text him back and apologize and tell him that I've missed him. How pathetic is that?" Erin exclaimed, fighting back the tears, sitting back down on the bed.
"It's not pathetic." Rudy said sympathetically.
"But, Rudy, it is," a single tear fell down Erin's face, "He told me I was worthless and selfish and impossible. Jairus made me feel like I was unloveable, but I still loved him. I still loved the person who did nothing but made me hate myself for years! What is wrong with me?"
Rudy watched as Erin's eyes welled up with tears as he pulled her into a hug, "Nothing is wrong with you," Rudy looked her straight in the eye, "Erin Addison, you are so many things, but you are not selfish, or worthless, or impossible. You are amazing and smart and funny and talented and beautiful." Rudy paused before he started again, "Jairus can't control the way you think anymore; don't give him that control."
"Rudy, I'm so sorry," Erin said tearfully, "I know how much you hated Jairus. You have given me this speech so many times because of it. Every time I would cry about Jairus, you would tell me time and time again how much of a waste he was. And you were right! I should have listened to you. I should have known that you saw something in Jairus that I was too blind to see."
"Erin, you're my best friend in the whole world. I'm going to be there for you no matter what, you know that right?" Rudy asked while Erin nodded her head in agreement. "So I don't care what's going on or who you're talking to, I will always be there for you as a friend, as a shoulder to cry on, as a-"
Rudy was cut off midsentence by Erin's lips connecting with his. Rudy was caught off-guard but their lips moved in sync as the kiss became more passionate. Rudy finally came to his senses and pulled away.
"Erin," Rudy said, catching his breath, "we shouldn't."
"Oh, yeah, yeah, of course. Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm just not in the right frame of mind." Erin stuttered, recovering from what had just occurred. The two sat there in complete silence for a few minutes before Rudy chimed in trying to lighten the mood.
"I can't believe you just kissed me," Rudy said in disbelief, not knowing what else to say.
"Ha, yeah, I can't believe it either." Erin chuckled
The two began to laugh lightly, which then evolved into the two of them laughing until they could barely breathe.
"Ha, sorry that kiss kind of crossed the best friend line a little bit." Erin joked.
Rudy laughed back, "Uh, yeah, you think?"
Trying to move on from what had just occurred and the two continued to watch Ratatouli, which comically, had been playing in the background the whole time.
By the time the movie ended and after the day both of them had, Erin and Rudy were both exhausted. After quickly getting ready for bed, the two raced to the bed, which they had been sharing the whole time on the cruise.
"Dibs on the side closest to the phone charger!" Rudy said, running towards the bed and jumping on top of it.
"Aw, man!" Erin exclaimed, climbing into the left side of the bed.
After they both got situated, Rudy turned off the lights.
"Night Air Bear," Rudy said peacefully.
"Goodnight, Ru," Erin responded.
Although Erin was exhausted, she had too much on her mind to fall asleep. She tossed and turned for thirty minutes before she got even close to comfortable.
"Hey, Rudy," Erin whispered.
"Yeah?" Rudy said half-asleep.
"Will you hold my hand?" Erin said. She knew she sounded like a child, but she didn't care. She needed some sort of reassurance that everything was going to be okay.
Rudy didn't hesitate for a second before he wrapped his warm hand around Erin's delicate hand. This instantly eased Erin's mind as she drifted into a peaceful sleep, neither of them letting go of the other's hand.
